wow....
6 months have gone by since the terrifying and amazing day when our Sophie was born. In six months, I don't think a single day has passed without us realizing how incredibly lucky we are to have gone through it all relatively unscathed. When I am feeding her and I happen to catch a glimpse of the little scars on her hands from her IV, or when she stretches a certain way and looks like a giant version of her formerly tiny self that we used to stare at for hours...we are so grateful.
This month, Sophie hit the 8lb mark! She is fitting into her 1 month clothes and her little toes reach all the way to the ends of her sleepers. We moved out of newborn sized diapers and into the stage 1 size, and she finally got to wear the sleeper that my mom bought for her before she was born - when she found out I was pregnant. I used to stare at that sleeper and think that I couldn't imagine the GIGANTIC creature that would fill it out, and I surely couldn't imagine snapping those little snaps all the way up to MY baby's chin. It was moment for me. I have them every day. I think that probably every mom does.
Sophie met with some play therapists whose job it is to gauge her development and suggest play activities for us to try together. They were really impressed with her muscle strength and focus...she follows objects all around the room and looks for where sounds are coming from -- exactly the things she is "supposed" to be doing. They judge her by her due date - January 4 - so they tell me that she should be doing the things a 3 month old should be doing - and she is. More that this, though, she is doing things that WAY bigger babies do, and it looks so crazy, because she is the size of a newborn but has the ability to sit up with support and she holds her head so steady. She loves to play with her floor gym and hit the things to make them play music.
Earlier this month, I put her down for a nap on her tummy (I KNOW -- not the recommended position but she was hospital trained and is on a monitor so it's OK with her doctor) anyway, I put her down for a nap on her tummy and came in later to look in the crib at her giant grin smiling up at me. She rolled over.
Every day she changes so much and brings so much joy to my life. She makes me want to be a better person. She makes me want to do the things I need to do to be a happier person. She makes me feel like all of these things are possible. All in all...she is the best thing that ever happened to me. I just hope that I can in some small way repay her the favour.
